Found Seemingly Healthy Chicken Dead Need Ideas

[smedly9921]

This morning I found one of my white leghorn hens dead in the coop. She was a little over a year old a great layer and untill this morning very healthy and happy. I saw all the chickens last night they were all fine. I have 20 chickens total in two coops I. I have had chickens now for a little over a year and this is the first time one has ever died un explained. I had one other chicken die of a virus of some kind but none of the other chickens came down with it. The other chicken that died was a red bluff and I got her for free from some one who was getting rid of there chickens. Also she died approximatly 6 months ago. I am sure they are unrelated. I have not had a chance to really look over the body cause I had to go to work. I really am wondering if she was having trouble passing an egg!. Any help or ideas of what to look for please let me know.

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC. She may have been egg impacted which caused her death. I've had it happen to a Leghorn and Black Star before.

 

[DelilahJones]

I know how you feel. I'm sorry. I came home from work to this almost exact senario. Mine was a one year old Buff Orpington. She was fine at lunch 3 hours ago and I sat with all 9 of our chickens last night and all were fine and acting completely normal. She even launched herself from the top of the nesting boxes to the roosting pole. It's a funny sight to watch because she was out biggest hen and the pole would really go "boing" when she landed on it. Anyway, I'll be watching any responses you get here and I'm posting my own thread.

 

[blackred]

This time of the year snakes can get bad. I don't know where you live but a 4-6 ft rat snake can easily kill a chicken. Most of the time they try to swallow the head and it suffocates them and they end up on the floor. The head will be moist if you find them rather quickly but most of the time the feathers will just look a little ruffled.

Bob

 

[smedly9921]

I live in North East Ohio. We have black rat snakes but one that big is rare. Its hard to find a 3 footer. Also i do not live super close to water and those rat snakes seem to hover around water. But that idea is not out of the question. I will go home and look for snake sign. With the impacted egg what should I look for when examining the body. Thanks for all your help.

 

[real_redhead]

Sorry for your loss and good luck figuring out what happened.

 

[CMV]

Open her up. It should be pretty clear at once if she had reproductive issues. There are photos in the the Meat Birds Etc. section of the forum (in the stickies) to show you what a normal bird should look like during processing. If you do decide to open her up, take some pics and post them here we can possibly help you ID a COD should you have any questions or doubts about what killed the bird. Reproductive issues are usually glaringly obvious, though.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[CorinneP]

I am sorry

for your Loss .. Never Easy Reguardless of the Cause .. Hope you can get an answer and that this was an isolated incident

 

[Ampowers]

A spider could have bit her, I had a barred rock rooster that was fine and with an hour he had died... we think it was some kind of spider

 

[sourland]

Heart attacks are not a rare occurrence in chickens. Sorry for your loss and hopefully it is limited to the one bird.